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Dubuque agrees to settlement with E.P.A. over wastewater problems

April 26, 2011 By

The City of Dubuque has reached an agreement with state and federal officials over improvements to its sewage system to prevent overflows. Environmental Protection Agency spokesman, Chris Whitley, says the proposal includes a civil penalty.

Whitley says the settlement calls for a $205,000 civil penalty that’ll be split between the federal and state government. Dubuque has also agreed to spend some $3-million dollars to correct deficiencies in its sewer system. Whitley says part of the proposal calls on the city to spend $260,000 to reconstruct four alleys in the downtown area using permeable pavement.

He says rain water would flow off the streets and into the sewer system and that would put more burden on the wasterwater plant. Whitley says the permeable pavement allows the water to flow into the ground and it doesn’t have to be treated before it flows into the water table.

The E.P.A. says Dubuque has had a series of problems with its sewage system that include approximately 39 sewer overflows which occurred between 2002 and 2007; approximately 687 violations of sewage, residual chlorine and other problems in the levels of wastewater discharge between 2002 and 2007.

The agency said audits in 2005 and 2007 found that Dubuque failed to issue permits to industrial users of its water pollution control plant, failed to take enforcement actions against industrial users that violated terms of their city-issued permits, and failed to follow sampling and reporting requirements of its pretreatment program. Whitley says the city has been working to improve its system.

Whitley says the city has negotiated in good faith and has taken the lead in addressing a number of the issues, and he says that’s why the time span for the improvements is only three years. He says that’s a short amount of time compared to other cities that take 10 to 15 years to improve their systems.

The settlement sets up a series of schedules for the city’s completion of the various projects to improve its sewer system. The consent decree is subject to a 30-day public comment period and court approval before it becomes final.

Filed Under: Environment & Conservation, Politics & Government Tagged With: ,

Grassley not disappointed to see presidential candidate drop out

April 26, 2011 By

Iowa Republicans can remove one name from their list of possible presidential candidates while changing another name from “possible” to the “likely” category. After several visits to the Hawkeye State, Mississippi Governor Haley Barbour announced Monday he will not be running for the White House.

Iowa Senator Chuck Grassley, a Republican, says he’s not disappointed by the news. “I’m not sorry if anybody gets out of the presidential race at this point,” Grassley says. “I think at this point, if they’re getting out, they were not really serious competitors. The reason I’m glad to see anybody that wants to get out at this point, it means they didn’t have their heart fully into it.”

The 63-year-old Barbour was quoted as saying he didn’t have the “fire in the belly” it takes to be a contender in the presidential race, and Grassley says it’s good that he figured that out sooner, not later.

“We’ve gotta’ have a candidate that has his heart fully into it,” Grassley says. “When we can get the focus on a lesser number of candidates, get it down to about a half a dozen, the better off Republicans are gonna’ be.” Meanwhile, Texas Congressman Ron Paul is expected to announce in Iowa today that he’ll be forming an exploratory presidential committee.

Paul, a Republican, is also expected to name his campaign team for Iowa during an event this afternoon at a Des Moines hotel. Paul first ran for president in 1988 and ran again in 2008, placing fifth that year in the Iowa Caucuses.

Filed Under: Campaign Countdown, Politics & Government Tagged With: , ,

Cedar Rapids man charged with sex abuse

April 26, 2011 By

A Cedar Rapids man is behind bars after police say he admitted abusing two young girls. Thirty-three-year-old Joshua D. Mitchell is charged with two counts of second-degree sexual abuse.

Police accuse Mitchell of committing multiple sex acts on two girls, ages 5 and 9, between January 2010 and April 2011. The incidents occured at a residence in southwest Cedar Rapids. Police began investigating the case after being contacted by the Iowa Department of Human Services.

Police are not saying how Mitchell knew the girls. He was booked in the Linn County Jail a $100,000 cash-only bond.

Filed Under: Crime & Courts

Mason City women given suspended sentence for biting jailer

April 26, 2011 By

A Mason City woman who bit a Cerro Gordo County jailer has been given a suspended sentence and probation. Twenty-four-year-old Kimberly Prestby was being booked into the Cerro Gordo County Jail on April 13th when she allegedly went out of control a bit jailer Jennifer Platts. The bite did not require medical treatment.

Prestby pleaded guilty to assaulting a peace officer. She was given 730 days of probation, a suspended jail sentence of 365 days and a $625 suspended fine. She also was sentenced for her convictions on three counts of harassment.

Prestby was given seven days in jail, a suspended sentence of 365 days in jail and 730 days of probation. The sentences are to be served at the same time.

By Bob Fisher, KRIB, Mason City

Filed Under: Crime & Courts

Iowa National Guard provides support for the families of fallen soldiers

April 26, 2011 By

Three Iowa National Guard soldiers have died this month while serving in Afghanistan. Two of the soldiers were buried this weekend and services are pending for the third. Iowa Guard spokesman, Colonel Greg Hapgood, says the guard provides support for the families of the fallen soldiers as long as they need it.

Hapgood says each family that loses a soldier is assigned a casualty assistance officer, and that officer works with them from the first time they are notified of the loss of a loved one “until every single task is completed.” Hapgood says the support continues well after the funeral and other ceremonies are over.

Hapgood says it’s not unusual for a casualty assistance officer to work with the family even years after the death of the service member. “You are talking about a very strong bond when someone works for that family at one of the very most difficult times in their lives, and families certainly treasure that one-on-one commitment that we have to them,” Hapgood says.

The soldiers that served alongside the fallen soldier have to return to their duty. Hapgood says they are able to do that because of their training, and because they are committed to what they are doing. “I think what you would find if you asked Iowa National Guardmembers about what it is that they value most, I think that they would say doing something that they feel is making even a little difference for somebody else,” Hapgood says.

Thirty-one-year old Sergeant Brent Maher of Honey Creek was buried in Council Bluffs Friday following his funeral at Council Bluffs High School. Twenty-one-year-old Specialist Donald Nichols of Shell Rock was buried in Cedar Falls after his funeral Saturday at Waverly-Shell Rock High School.

Services are still pending for 32-year-old Staff Sergeant James Justice of Grimes who died in Afghanistan Saturday while on a mission to rescue two other soldiers.

Filed Under: Human Interest, Military Tagged With:

GOP lawmaker “appalled” by professor’s emailed obscenity

April 25, 2011 By

A Republican lawmaker is rebuking a University of Iowa professor who sent an inflammatory email response to U-of-I College Republicans. 

The group touted its “Conservative Coming Out Week” in a message sent last week to everyone on the campus email system. Representative Betty DeBoef, a Republican from What Cheer, suggests professor Ellen Lewin’s email reply — with an expletive thrown in — was over the line.

[Read more...]

Filed Under: Education, Politics & Government Tagged With: , , ,

Registration open for Iowa Games

April 25, 2011 By

Officials say registration is now open for the Iowa Games. The summer sports festival is celebrating its 25th anniversary this year.

Iowa Games executive director Jim Hallihan, says it’s a little later than normal as they have developed a new website. He says they are also sending out information in an attempt to generate interest.

He says they sent about 40,000 flyers out to past participants and hope to have people go to the website, or they can fill out the forms and send them in. This year’s event will feature 41 individual and 13 team sports. Hallihan says their goal is to better last year’s number of 15,000 athletes.

The Opening Ceremony will be July 15th in Iowa State’s Jack Trice Stadium.

Filed Under: Sports Tagged With: , , ,
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